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Wednesday, June 18, 1912:Ma went to Milton today. She bought me an umbrella. Went to Watsontown this afternoon, and some of my money went to.

Recent photo of downtown Watsontown. It’s about a mile and a half west of the Muffly farm.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma must have decided that she needed an umbrella after the rain the previous Sunday prevented her from attending Sunday School.

What did Grandma buy when she went to Watsontown?

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Since the diary entry is self-explanatory, I’m going to go off on a tangent.

I’m not sure why, but when I see something in the news I often view it through the frame of the diary.

For example, in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal there was an article which said that the War of 1812 began 200 years ago on June 18. I guess it’s obvious that the War of 1812 occurred 100 years before Grandma’s diary entry–but I’d never thought about it that way before. In other words, the diary was written at the midpoint between the War of 1812 and the present.

I t also made me think about how the Civil War began 151 years ago (51 years before this diary entry)—and that War War I had not yet occurred in 1912 (it started in 1914).

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16 Responses

I love how your grandmother’s entries stimulate you to think/put into perspective, and research the past. I need to look at a map~ I’ll be driving through PA to visit family in a couple of weeks and may need to make a detour through McEwansville. I know I’ve been to Milton once, if it’s the same one.

I’m glad you enjoy the blog. As far as I know there is only one Milton in Pennsylvania. McEwensville only a couple miles off of Interstate Route 80 in the middle of the state. It’s a very quiet, but nice little village.

It makes perfect sense to me that you would view both news and history through the frame of your grandmother’s diary. Her written words make these eras and the events surrounding them seem so much more real … and provide a kind of anchor for looking at what came before and after.

You’re right about how it provides an anchor. For example, on the way to work I sometimes walk past the keystone in a building that says 1912. My first thought always is: Wow, that was the same year Grandma was writing her diary.

You touch on many things that cross my mind when I look at the photos of my ancestors. I’m enjoying your blog immensely since you key it in to all of our lives as you write it in historical terms. Many thanks.

I really liked you historical timeline perspective discussion today. It is so important to put these details of our ancestors, and ourselves, in proper perspective. Thank you, again, for really neat stuff! ;-)

I think I know where the farm is, one Saturday I will have to do some exploring. I am excited to see the farm and know your grandmother and some of the history. What a treasure you gave me – thanks! Patty

Hello

I look forward to sharing my grandmother's diary with relatives and friends. Helena Muffly (Swartz) kept a diary from 1911-1914. She was 15 years old when she began this diary. I plan to post these entries one day at a time—exactly 100 years after she wrote them. I hope you enjoy this glimpse back to a slower paced time.

The header is a picture of the farm where my grandmother lived when she wrote this diary. It is located in Northumberland County in central Pennsyvlania about a mile outside of McEwenvsille. My father said that the buildings look similar to what they looked like when he was a child.